Damaged Goods
by bbucking
Summary: Brittany writes an original song that surprises the glee club especially Santana. Brittana with Britt/Quinn friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** So I intended to write a funny short about Brittany trying to write an original song, but somehow it turned out much more serious, but I think I like it this way better. Hopefully the characters aren't too far out of character. Credit to Fox for My Headband, but Damaged Goods is a song written by me.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters just their thoughts and actions.

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><p>"Mr. Shue? I wrote a song." Brittany stated at the beginning of glee club rehearsal.<p>

The whole room was silenced instantly as all members stared at the tall blonde in shock, some with their mouths agape and others with their eyebrows raised. Mr. Shue also seemed taken aback, but quickly recovered interested to hear what the girl had prepared.

"Okay Brittany, let's hear what you've got."

Brittany bounced off her chair and moved to the middle of the choir room. She gave a quick nod to Brad who began to play the intro to Brittany's first attempt at an original song.

"**There you rest ****  
>With all the rest<br>****of my accessories on my night stand"**

The former cheerleader swayed back and forth as she softly sang the lyrics. Most of the glee club continued to stare at her perplexed except for Rachel who wore a look of utter despair. She turned her head to look at her fellow teammates expecting them to be furious, but no one seemed to notice anything particularly irregular- even Finn was clueless.

"**You're red or yellow  
><strong>**And like a good fellow  
><strong>**Sometimes you get-"**

"Wait a minute! This is absolutely ridiculous. That is not an original song Brittany, that's my song, I came up with it!" Rachel burst out not being able to stand it anymore causing the music to stop and silence ensued. Even if _My Headband _wasn't her best attempt at song writing, she wasn't going to let anyone else get credit for it.

"Come on, Finn you know that I wrote that song," she looked over to the quarterback for support who merely shrugged. "I sang it to you a few weeks ago and yes I will admit that it was not quite the quality writing as what I am striving for, but I simply refuse to let Brittany perform an original song that is not truly hers!" Rachel sat back down in her seat leaving a dumbfounded Brittany standing silently in the middle of the room.

Mr. Shuester walked over to Brittany with a bit of amusement and concern in his eyes.

"Did you write that song Brittany?" Mr. Shue asked as he placed a light hand on her shoulder

"Of course she didn't. How could-"

"Shut it Berry." Santana snapped from the back row, causing Rachel's mouth to close for the time being.

"Well no, I heard it as I was walking by the choir room the other day. It was like coming out of thin air and Santana told me that original songs came from nowhere because they never existed before then. This song came to me out of nothing, so it is my original song right?"

Mr. Shue held back a laugh while a few students turned theirs into coughs and Rachel rolled her eyes not trying to hide her annoyance.

"Um not quite, but I do like the effort. Why don't you try and team up with someone so they can help you with the logistics?" Mr. Shue asked gently.

"We have to sing about geometry? I don't understand math."

"No, you can sing about anything. Quinn, since you and Rachel have parted ways why don't you give Brittany a hand?"

Quinn looked up from her notebook uninterested, but nodded anyway. Brittany smiled and ran back to her seat next to Artie completely unaffected by her epic fail on her first attempt.

* * *

><p>Quinn was pulling her History book out of her locker the next day when a tall blonde appeared next to her.<p>

"Hi Quinn!" Brittany exclaimed. Her chipper personality was a little too much for Quinn to handle this early in the morning, but its constant presence was a bit of a relief to Quinn's confusing love life at the moment.

"Hey Britt," she replied with a small smile as she shut her locker and looked at her friend.

"I was wondering if you wanted to work on the original song after school today? Artie's watching a marathon on the discovery channel, and Santana said she had plans with Sam so we can't get our lady kisses on until this weekend." Brittany said nonchalantly.

Quinn winced at the second part of the sentence; not the part about Santana and Britt's relationship, she was on the Cheerios with both of them long enough to know all about that even if she thought it was wrong for them to be cheating on their respective boyfriends with each other. Though she supposed she wasn't one to judge, but at least she felt awful about what she did while Santana had let Brittany believe what they were doing was okay because the "plumbing was different." Still the idea of Santana and Sam together made Quinn nauseous.

"Helloooo…Quinnnn…" Brittany waved a hand in front of Quinn's face to snap her out of her head and back to the conversation they were having.

"Oh right, um yeah, I think that will be fine." Quinn replied as she began to head off to class.

"Alright! Meet you in the auditorium then." Brittany said as she skipped ahead of Quinn and down the next hall.

* * *

><p>Brittany was already standing by the piano with furrowed eyebrows looking down at some papers that were scattered across the top of the piano when Quinn walked into the auditorium. She smiled widely and waved when she saw Quinn enter from back stage.<p>

"How's it coming so far?" Quinn asked as she approached her friend. She looked at the notebook paper sprawled everywhere and noticed they were all blank.

"Well I'm waiting for the song to come to me. I tried throwing the paper in the air a few times to let the words appear but it didn't work." Brittany stated slightly sad as if she honestly believed it might have worked. Quinn mouthed wow to herself slightly before regaining her composure. She should have known better than to expect much from her ditzy friend, but she wanted to be there for Brittany and if she wanted to write a song then Quinn was going to help her.

"Okay, so what exactly did you want to write a song about?" Quinn asked.

"How am I supposed to know? I don't have control over things that come from nowhere. I don't even know where nowhere is." Brittany gave Quinn a look as if Quinn was the less intelligent of the two blondes for asking such a ridiculous question. Quinn responded by arching her one eyebrow and biting her lip while trying to decide the best way to approach the situation.

"Britt, I don't know what Santana told you about song writing, but they don't come from nowhere. They come from right here," Quinn said as she pointed to her chest.

"Your boobs?" Brittany questioned blankly.

"What? No, your heart. You write songs based on what you're feeling inside that you can't express in any other way besides music." Quinn stated trying hard not to get frustrated. Brittany nodded though the blank expression remained on her face. Quinn continued on, "So what do you feel in your heart?"

"It's beating."

"Right." Quinn knew it was a too much of an abstract question, perhaps she needed a different approach.

"But not as fast as it does when I'm with Artie. Definitely not like when I'm with Santana either." Brittany stated thoughtfully. Quinn stood up straighter knowing she was finally getting somewhere.

"And what makes your heart beat when you are with them?" Quinn asked, not sure if she really wanted to hear the details of Brittany's answer.

"All sorts of things. When Artie sings me a song in his sexy voice or lets me dance on his lap. Or when Santana cuddles with me as we watch a movie, or when we lock pinkies while we walk. But…" She drifted off and looked out into the empty seats.

"But what Britt?" Quinn asked softly trying to get the taller blonde to open up. Brittany continued to gaze out into nothing, but eventually turned her head back to look at her friend.

"Well we haven't really done those things in a while." Brittany reflected sadly. Quinn was unsure who was included in the "we" so she chose to stay quiet and wait for Brittany to elaborate.

"I mean ever since I told her I wouldn't break up with Artie even though she said she loved me, she hasn't been talking to me. And then she wrote that song for Sam and I just don't know." Brittany kept her eyes directed at Quinn, but couldn't quite look the shorter blonde in the eye.

Quinn was completely taken aback by this new information. She wasn't sure what was more a shocker; the fact that Santana was in love with someone or the fact that she admitted it. Knowing she needed to be supportive of her friend, Quinn tried to keep her face composed. She took a step closer to Brittany and placed a hand lightly on her upper arm.

"And how does that make you feel?"

"I don't know, sad? Confused? Sometimes angry because I don't know what I did to deserve this." Brittany's lower lip began to quiver and it was clear she was trying not to shed any tears. Quinn could really tell that Brittany was struggling with this and she began to think that maybe there was more to the two girls' relationship than even Quinn could understand. As Quinn pulled Brittany into a hug, the taller blonde let out a soft almost inaudible sob. Quinn wondered just how much damage Santana had done. As if Brittany was reading her mind, she spoke up again as she removed herself from the embrace.

"Sometimes I feel like my diary after Charity scratches and rips the pages out, and it's all broken."

"Like you're damaged?" Quinn added helpfully.

"Yeah damaged. Like damaged goods." Brittany said quietly as she put her elbows on the piano and placed her chin in her hands. Quinn grabbed a pen from her purse and placed it along with one of the pieces of paper in front of Brittany, then moved to sit on the piano bench.

"I think you have found your song Britt," Quinn said and the two got to work.

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><p>It took Brittany and Quinn a few days to perfect the song and a couple more for Brittany to work up the courage to actually sing it in front of the entire club. Quinn kept telling her that she would be great and that the song was actually an original so there wouldn't be a Rachel outburst like last time. Finally, a week after her first attempt, Brittany was ready to try again.<p>

All the team members had settled into their seats, except Brittany who remained in the middle of the room, when Mr. Shue walked in. He took a quick look at the group before turning to Brittany.

"Hey guys! You can take your seat Brittany," he said motioning for her to sit down with the rest of the club.

"I'm ready to sing my song." Brittany stated plainly.

"Oh um," Mr. Shue looked at Quinn to see if Brittany had indeed written a song that was actually her own. Quinn nodded so Mr. Shue continued, "Alright let's hear what you came up with."

With a hesitant look at Quinn who smiled in encouragement, Brittany handed the sheet music that Quinn had written to Brad and positioned herself in front of the piano.

"So I wrote this song, but Quinn helped with the music and the harder words, but it came from my heart's feelings so it's my song." Brittany stated as she stared at a tile near her feet. She thought about all the feelings Quinn had brought out in her when they were writing the song and used them to get courage to look up. "It's called Damaged Goods," she said as she locked eyes with the latina in the back row.

Brittany started off the intro softly speaking the words as they weren't meant to be sung.

"**Stop coming to me  
><strong>**Because of you  
><strong>**It's all your fault"**

Standing with her back resting against the piano she kept her eyes on Santana making sure the latina took in every word to the song Brittany wrote to her.

"**What happened to us, where did we go  
><strong>**Lockin pinkies down the hall was it all for show  
><strong>**You said that what we had was special to you  
><strong>**So why do you get it from other boys too**

**Sometimes I wonder how I could've been so blind  
><strong>**I knew you only had one thing on your mind  
><strong>**I just wanted to do what I thought was right  
><strong>**So why can't I stop crying over you at night**

**I hurt you once, so you said we're done  
><strong>**But you've been hurting me since day one  
><strong>**I just wish that I could understand  
><strong>**The games you've been playin with the cards in your hand"**

Gaining confidence, she picked up the volume and intensity in her voice as she began the chorus.

"**Don't you know your words mean nothing to me now  
><strong>**Just leave me alone so I can get over you somehow**

**I know you're lookin' for somethin' shiny and new  
><strong>**Stop coming to me cuz I'm damaged goods  
><strong>**Don't feed me lies sayin' the sky ain't blue  
><strong>**Because of you I'm damaged goods  
><strong>**It's all your fault that I'm damaged goods**

**You're coming back  
><strong>**You're at my door  
><strong>**My love for you makes me want more**

**You pull me close  
><strong>**You hold me tight  
><strong>**Make me think things will be alright**

**I can't do this  
><strong>**No not again  
><strong>**My broken heart just needs to mend"**

Holding out the last word on the bridge Brittany couldn't focus on anyone except the girl she was singing to. Santana sat stiff in her seat not being able to take her eyes off the blonde, but also trying hard to keep her face void of any emotion. Brittany stared at her intently trying to read her face, to see something, anything that may have shown that the message was getting across. She took a deep breath and continued to the reprise.

"**Don't you know your words mean nothing to me now  
><strong>**Just leave me alone so I can get over you somehow**

**I know you're lookin' for somethin' shiny and new  
><strong>**Stop coming to me cuz I'm damaged goods  
><strong>**Don't feed me lies sayin' the sky ain't blue  
><strong>**Because of you I'm damaged goods  
><strong>**It's all your fault that I'm damaged goods"**

Lowering the volume of her voice, Brittany slowed with the music as the song neared its end.

"**Stop coming to me  
><strong>**I'm damaged goods"**

Santana's eyes were no longer on her best friend but instead she sat with her head down, her hands holding her forehead and hiding her face from Brittany's view.

"**Because of you  
><strong>**I'm damaged goods"**

Sam put his arm around his girlfriend to comfort her, but she immediately shook it off. Santana looked up with wet eyes to meet Brittany's somber gaze.

"**Yeah it's all your fault  
><strong>**I'm damaged goods"**

As her last note drifted off into nothingness, the two girls stayed locked in a stare down. Neither of them heard the round of applause or Mr. Shue's impressed compliments. Quinn and a few other members got up to hug Brittany, but all she saw was Santana who now had tears slowly flowing down her cheeks. The latina wiped them away with the back of her hand then mouthed "I'm sorry." And as much as Brittany wanted her best friend back in her life, she just wasn't sure if sorry was enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Sorry it's kind of short, but there is more to come.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters just their thoughts and actions.

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><p>Brittany sat in a daze for the rest of rehearsal.<p>

Though Mr. Shue had been completely blown away by the song Brittany and Quinn put together, he had already promised Rachel she could sing one at regionals and the other song needed to be a group number that was an anthem. He told Brittany he was so proud of what she accomplished, but that they just wouldn't be able to use the song for the competition. She politely smiled back, showing no trace of sadness about this news, before sitting down next to Artie not saying a word.

Artie reached over to take the hand of his girlfriend and gave it a quick squeeze. Feeling the pressure of someone else's hand against her own, Brittany looked down then over to her boyfriend. His face somber and behind those glasses she could see eyes that felt the hurt within her as if her pain was his pain. At first she figured he was sad because she was, and she was told good boyfriends were supposed to act that way. But then he gently squeezed her hand one last time before moving his hand back into his lap. As she continued to gaze at him, slightly confused by his actions, he gave her a tight lipped smile and nodded.

Brittany had no clue what he was nodding at so instead of trying to figure it out, she decided to let her mind wander. No matter what she did the only image in her head was that of Santana with tears rolling down her cheeks whispering an apology. It was this image that she thought about during the rest of rehearsal while staring blankly at the floor. The rest of the club thought about lyrics to some song Mr. Shue had come up with while Brittany's mind was occupied solely by one person. It was same person that had inhibited her brain so much, not only that day but for weeks. Though if she was honest with herself, that person had been an essential part of her life for years, but it wasn't until recently that all the times they had shared and feelings they had for each other had turned into something much more complicated. Brittany couldn't take her thoughts off that one person, and it was then that she realized that the one person was not her boyfriend.

A long time later, or perhaps it was a short time Brittany was never good at telling time, the bell rang shocking Brittany back into reality that Glee was over and it was time to head home. She slowly grabbed her books and made her way to the door. She saw Santana waiting outside in the hallway and since the only people left in the choir room was herself and Quinn, she assumed the latina was waiting for her. She didn't think she was ready to talk to her best friend just yet so she stopped abruptly and turned around causing Quinn, who was following her out the door, to smash into her full on.

"Ow. Britt, what are you doing?" Quinn asked steadying herself. Had it been anyone other than Brittany she would have snapped, but the two had grown closer through their song writing experience, and she was genuinely curious as to why Brittany had suddenly put on the brakes.

"Quinn!" Brittany exclaimed happily as if she just realized who ran into her. "Sorry about that, I just remembered that I forgot to remember my locker combination."

"Okay and you stopped because…" Quinn drifted off hoping Brittany would fill in the blanks. Brittany however was unsure herself. She never remembered her locker com, that was Santana's job, but she didn't know how she could get into her locker while avoiding Santana without knowing the combination. Quinn could almost see smoke coming out of Brittany's ears as the taller blonde furrowed her eyebrows trying to come up with an explanation. When Brittany failed to come up with an answer after a full minute Quinn took matters into her own hands.

"I can pick the lock for you if you want." She stated moving to the side of Brittany while motioning them out the door. She noticed Santana leaning against a locker on the other side of the hall with a stern look on her face.

"Really? That would be awesome, thanks Q!" Brittany's face lit up at the idea and she followed Quinn out of the choir room making sure she was on the opposite side of her blonde friend so hopefully Santana wouldn't see her leave. Unfortunately her tall stature and the fact that Santana already knew she have to leave the choir room eventually, made it impossible to escape without being seen.

"B!" Santana called as she hurried to stand in front of the two blondes blocking their way. The two girls halted and stared silently at her as they waited for her to continue. No one spoke and the only sound in the hallway was each girl's quick breathing- Santana's from the short run, Brittany's from anxiety, and Quinn's from impatience. Finally Quinn had enough, she was sick of all the things Santana had done, not only to Brittany but to herself as well. If Brittany wasn't going to speak up, then she sure as hell would.

"What do you want, or are you going to just stand here all day and stare at us?" The venom in Quinn's voice cut through the quiet air. Santana was about to snap back at her but decided she needed to pick her battles, so she sent her a cold glare before directing her attention to Brittany.

"Britt," she said slowly taking her time between her words, "can we talk?" Brittany thought about the words to her song. Santana kept coming back, making her want more. She would say she's sorry and everything would be alright, but Brittany wondered if things could ever go back to how it used to be.

"Oh are we talking now?" Brittany asked with a slight hint of irritation in her voice, but mostly just curiosity. Santana caught the edge in her voice, but chose to ignore it.

"Look B, just give me a minute," she reached out to grab Brittany's hand, but the blonde took a step back putting herself out of reach.

"Seriously!" Quinn interrupted loudly. "Did you not even listen to her song? I think you have done enough damage to her and pretty much everyone else in Glee club, so why don't you just adhere to her wishes and leave her alone." Quinn grabbed Brittany by the arm and began to pull her around the latina, but was stopped as Santana gripped her bag causing Quinn's hold on Brittany to be released and her body to spin quickly facing her frenemy.

"Ok Tubbers listen up. First of all, just because you wrote a song with Britts doesn't mean you know shit about her. Secondly, I won't deny I've hurt some people in Glee but don't you give me that holy saint act, cuz we all know how your relationships have messed up the team and you've done plenty more damage to them than I have. Lastly, I did listen to her song, every word of it and that's why I want to talk to her." Santana spat at Quinn while closing the distance between them.

"Well she doesn't want to talk to you." Quinn shot back, stepping closer not afraid of a challenge. Rage was beginning to overcome her after hearing those blatantly hurtful words though most of them were true.

"Why don't you shut it Barbie and let her speak for herself." Santana snapped back. Both girls looked back to their friend who was staring at them with her usual blank expression, mouth slightly agape. When she realized they were talking to her, Brittany took a small step towards them before replying.

"I do want to talk to you," Brittany hesitated searching for the right words, "just not right now."

"But the song-" Santana began to protest, but Brittany cut her off.

"Not right now, but soon. I promise." Brittany closed the rest of the distance and lightly reached down to hold Santana's hand. She looked her best friend in the eye and squeezed her had gently and softly repeated herself, "I promise."

Brittany turned around making the trip down the hall towards her locker, Quinn a few paces behind. Though Brittany didn't look back, Quinn glanced over her shoulder in hopes to give Santana a death glare, but she had already began to walk slowly towards the exit, head hung and shoulders slightly slumped.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Another short one. Annnnd it took me forever to update, sorry :( There is at least one maybe two more chapters. It depends on if I want to split it up or not.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters just their thoughts and actions.

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><p>When Quinn got to Brittany's locker, she quickly grabbed her nail file from her purse and got to work on the lock while the taller blonde leaned casually against the next locker. Usually Quinn could have gotten the locker open in a minute, maybe two, but her hands were shaking from her encounter with Santana, and she just couldn't focus at the task at hand as her mind reeled over her frenemy's vicious words. Just as she thought she had finished the job, the nail file slipped from her hand, falling to the floor causing Quinn to cuss knowing she would have to start over. Bending over she grabbed it and as she straightened herself, Quinn saw Brittany staring at her with a small pout on her face.<p>

Instead of straight up snapping at the taller girl, Quinn sighed to calm herself and asked, "What's wrong now Brittany?"

Brittany looked into Quinn's eyes as if she was searching for something, but Quinn wasn't sure what she expected to find. "You didn't have to be so harsh with Santana," she finally answered.

"What?" Quinn cocked her head wondering if she misheard the girl. From the stoic look on Brittany's face, she assumed she heard her correctly. "You're kidding me right? Did you even listen to what she said to me?" Her words came out fast and harsh as she was no longer able to control her frustration.

"It was kind of true…" Brittany replied quietly. Quinn's eyes widened in shock.

"I should've known you'd always take _her_ side. You wrote a song about how much she hurt you and how you wanted to get over her and yet here you are defending her like she's the best thing in the world." Quinn was beginning to lose control; her patience with the taller blonde had been completely thrown out the window.

"Why don't you like her anymore? We all used to be best friends…" Brittany asked curiously with her eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion.

"Why would I like her? She basically broke Sam and I up-"  
>"But you were cheating on him-"<br>"She had sex with Finn, even though he was my first love-"  
>"But you weren't dating him-"<br>"She sexted Puck while I was trying to see if something was there-"  
>"But you were with Finn then-"<p>

Brittany had an answer for everything even if the answers weren't what Quinn wanted to hear. Still Quinn was never one to back down from a disagreement so she went on, with a different approach.

"She wouldn't sing a duet with you-"  
>"She was scared of what people would say-"<br>"She wouldn't talk to you about your feelings-"  
>"She did with Ms. Holliday-"<br>"She stopped talking to you because you wouldn't break up with Artie-"  
>"I broke her heart."<p>

Quinn stopped her futile attempts with the lock. As she pulled back the nail file and turned to look at Brittany, the locker opened with an ironic click.

"Wait…you what?" Quinn asked softly her anger dissipating upon hearing the new information. Brittany stood back against a locker, arms hugging her chest, looking anywhere but at the shorter blonde.

"I-I- broke her heart. " Brittany stated a little less confidently once she let the words she said out loud really sink in. "She told me that she loved me and I told her that I was staying with Artie." Brittany's legs gave out and her back slid down against the locker until she landed on the floor with a thud. She hid her face in her hands as tears silently streamed down her cheeks. All thoughts about how much Quinn despised Santana were forgotten as she immediately sat down and put an arm around her friend in attempt to comfort her.

"Britt, you did the right thing. You can't just break up with Artie because someone else comes along saying you they love you."

"I don't know…it's just with Artie it feels so," she paused struggling to find the right word, "good…you know? It feels right with him and it makes sense." The tears were flowing less steadily now, but Brittany didn't bother wiping her face off. Quinn sensing her friend had more to say stayed silently waiting for her to continue.

"And with Santana it's just…well confusing."

"Okay, so Artie makes sense and Santana confuses you." Quinn stated slowly as if to help Brittany process her own thoughts. "Seems to me like you shouldn't be upset with yourself. You and Artie are perfect together, so you made the right choice." She said wondering why Brittany was still second guessing herself.

"You don't understand Quinn!" Brittany practically shouted causing the shorter blonde to flinch and remove her arm from her friends' shoulder. There was a fierceness in her eyes as she glared at Quinn for the first time since falling to the ground. "Love isn't supposed to make sense! It's supposed to be confusing and exciting and so good that it's bad and so wrong that it's right. It's supposed to be all those crazy things all rolled into one big ball of awesomeness."

Quinn had never heard Brittany get this upset before and it was almost rather frightening. That aside, she thought that was one of the deepest, most intelligent thought processes she had ever heard Brittany voice. Brittany's breath was short and ragged after her rant, but the tears had stopped. Quinn took a chance to reach out and grab Brittany's hand that was resting on her knee, and she took it as a good sign when the taller girl didn't pull away. She shifted slightly so she was more in front of her friend than to her side and was able to maintain better eye contact.

"Do you love him?"  
>"Of course I do."<br>"And Santana?"  
>"I love her more than anything else in this world."<br>"More than Artie?"

Brittany opened her mouth to answer then slowly closed it as her eyes went unfocused gazing off down the hallway.

"Once you can answer that question, you will know if you made the right choice or not." Quinn stated confidently as she got up. She pointed to Brittany's open locker, "You can get your books now." Brittany mumbled thanks but remained in her position on the floor. Quinn took a few steps down the hallway before she stopped briefly to throw one last piece of advice over her shoulder. "You want to know the best thing about choices?" Brittany simply nodded her head. "The opportunities that arise from them are endless." And with that Quinn left Brittany to her thoughts.

But Brittany didn't need to sit on the floor thinking things over because her heart already knew what to do. And when it came to things like love, she always followed her heart because her brain was a bit slower and didn't always process things as easy as her feelings did. So she dragged herself off the floor dreading the impending confrontations she would be having with the two loves in her life. At least she could sleep on it tonight and maybe come up with a plan. She then giggled to herself at that thought as she grabbed her books out of her locker, she had never made a plan before, always being more prone to "winging it."

Zipping up her backpack and shutting her locker, Brittany then made her way out of the building towards the parking lot. She noticed there was a figure near her car and as she got closer, she sighed a breath of relief realizing it was not a zombie. But relief quickly vanished as she processed who was waiting for her right outside her driver's side door.

"Can we talk…?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Again sorry the update took so long. I didn't know how I wanted to end it; I'm going to blame it on the lack of Brittana getting together at the end of season 2. There is only one more chapter left which I hope to finish today or tomorrow since the creative juices are flowing.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters just their thoughts and actions.

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><p>Artie had been waiting patiently by Brittany's car as soon as Glee club had finished. He hadn't been completely shocked by his girlfriend's original song and in fact was rather proud that she had expressed her feelings. When they first started dating, Brittany was very much into the physical aspect of their relationship, but she never really talked to him about how she felt on an emotional level. At first he thought maybe it was too deep for her to comprehend, but after spending time with her, he realized her resistance to opening up was a learned habit forced upon her by none other than one Santana Lopez.<p>

He watched Santana walk out of WMHS head down, staring at the ground as she slowly meandered to her car in the parking lot. Seeing the latina right after he heard his girlfriend sing an original song to her, about her, led him to remember a particular phone conversation that he had been apart of a week before sectionals last year.

"_To get back at Puck, aren't you two dating?" He heard Kurt's voice echo over the party line._

"_Sex isn't dating." Santana quickly snapped back._

"_If it was, Santana and I would be dating." Brittany added in with her usual lack of filter. _

Artie wasn't dumb, not in the least bit. He was on the Brainiacs so obviously he had book smarts, but he was well aware after that statement- even if he had suspected it before- that the two best friends were sleeping together. He had thought, or perhaps hoped, that when he started dating Brittany that her physical interactions with Santana had stopped. After all, at sectionals this year Brittany had flat out told him that she would never cheat on him. She was an honest person and he really wanted to believe her. But as anyone at William McKinley would know, Brittany, as wonderful as she is, is not exactly the brightest crayon in the box. Though she would never intentionally hurt Artie, he just had to know if his suspicions were true. And so he waited.

* * *

><p>Santana sped out the parking lot, squealing her tires on the pavement for good measure. Sure she was a little upset that Brittany wouldn't let her explain herself or even talk to her at all, but mostly she was just pissed at Quinn. She began to mutter incoherent Spanish under her breath as cursed the ex-head Cheerio for thinking that she knew anything about Brittany or their relationship. If that's what you could call it. Which to be honest, Santana knew she couldn't call it that, no matter how much she wanted it to be a real relationship, it just wasn't. It could have been, maybe. But now she didn't think she had much of a chance.<p>

And the real shitty part was that she had tried. She knew she upset Brittany when she refused to sing a duet with her, but Santana would be lying if she said image wasn't extremely important to her. There's no way in hell she was going to sing a song about making lady babies in front of the glee club. Mercedes and Tina would have mass texts out to the whole school before they even got to the chorus about how she liked girls, well no, she liked Brittany. Then shit would hit the fan, labels would be given, she would no doubt be asked to join the golf team, and her reputation at McKinley would severely plummet. So singing a duet was clearly out of the question, but she would make it up to the blonde she promised herself.

During the god awful week that they worked on Rocky Horror, Santana thought she made a step in the right direction. The best friends sang "Touch-a-Me" and things between them went back to normal. Of course then a week later Brittany started dating wheels, which was like a huge slap in the face, but then again Santana had been the one to say that sex wasn't dating so Brittany had every right to be in a relationship with Stubbles McCripple Pants. And even though her favorite blonde had a boyfriend, it was still easy for Santana to convince her to fool around. Not that Brittany objected to it, she loved spending time with the latina, but she was just worried that it was wrong. Problem easily solved by Santana, it wasn't cheating because they were both girls.

As the year went on, Santana continued to try to please her blonde BFF. When Britts wanted to talk more about their feelings, she was reluctant at first obviously because feelings just complicate things (point in case her whole damn "relationship" with the blonde), but she agreed to it eventually. Then she even went as far to tell Brittany that she loved her. She was Santana Freaking Lopez, and she told someone, well more specifically the most significant person in her life, that she was in love with her and what did she get in return? Nothing. Nothing but a small "of course I love you but I won't break up with my stupid boyfriend cuz it's not fair blah, blah, blah." No, what's not fair is that Santana tried, she put her heart on the line and ended up with it smashed. And Brittany thought she was damaged goods, ha!

But even through all of this, as Santana pulled into driveway in Lima Heights, she knew she still loved Brittany. And yes she would admit that she had hurt Brittany a time or two, but she had tried to make up for it, didn't that count for anything? Besides her hot body and ability to scare the crap out of anyone in high school, Brittany was pretty much the best thing in her life. She sure as hell wasn't going down without a fight. She knew from the way Brittany caught her eye and softly touched her hand when she whispered the words "I promise" early that day, that she would have a good chance of getting what she wanted. Unfortunately, Santana wasn't sure how soon "soon" would be, and she was never the type of girl to wait around. She couldn't force Brittany to talk to her, but she could make her listen.

As she entered her house and made her way to her room, Santana set the alarm on her phone to get up an hour earlier the next day, knowing that Brad never left the high school and would be around to help her out. She got out her notebook and began to write.

* * *

><p>After what seemed like ages, though he knew it couldn't be more than twenty minutes, the doors to McKinley High opened, and Artie watched as Quinn strode out followed shortly thereafter by the blonde he was anxiously waiting on. As Brittany approached her car, and subsequently her boyfriend, he saw her expression change three times in about as many seconds. Her facial features went from their usual blank form to fear to relief finally resting on something that he guessed was nervousness. When she got within hearing distance, he gave her a slight smile to hopefully put her more at easy and asked, "Can we talk?"<p>

By this time, Brittany had made it all the way to the driver's side door which she proceeded to lean her back against leaving Artie with the view of her profile.

"Um okay…" She wasn't expecting to run into Artie so soon, and though she had made her mind up she still wasn't exactly sure how to proceed. "About what?" Brittany questioned hoping maybe he just wanted to hang out, and she would have more time to figure out the right thing to say. Or maybe she would ask Quinn, she had a lot of experience breaking up with boyfriends. Well actually they broke up with her…because she cheated, so maybe that wasn't a good idea after all, that was nothing like the situation she was in with Artie.

"That was a really good song you performed today." Artie figured he would start out slow. He would much rather Brittany opened up to him then having to ask her straight up in order to get the answers out.

"Thanks?" She replied rather confused. He did know that the song was for Santana didn't he? She had never locked pinkies with him, and he was really smart so she assumed he put two and two together. Maybe he just really liked the song even though it wasn't about him.

Realizing that Brittany wasn't going to elaborate, Artie continued, "So you and Santana hey?"

"What about me and Santana?" If Brittany wasn't confused before, she definitely was now. First there was the squeezing of the hand and then letting go during glee club. Then the nod of the head. Then he complimented the song. And now he was just randomly asking about her and Santana. Maybe this was a mad lib or something.

Artie was getting nowhere and he wanted to just throw it out there, find out for sure whether or not Brittany had been cheating on him so he could move on with his life. He so badly wanted to accuse her of adultery though he had no hard core proof, but he knew deep down that he almost expected this. From the day he started dating Brittany he suspected she had feelings for Santana even if their relationship was strictly physical at the time, but after hearing her sing her heart out to the latina, he knew that it was more than just physical for the two girls. He realized that maybe cheating wasn't really the issue here.

It had been a few minutes and Artie still hadn't answered her question, so Brittany turned her head to get a better look at him. He was looking down at his hands on his lap and when he lifted his head, his gaze met hers.

"You love her." Artie said meekly. It wasn't a question because he knew the answer. So did Brittany of course, but she didn't know what she was supposed to say to that or if she was supposed to say anything at all. So she simply nodded, confirming Artie's statement. Artie sighed, knowing he didn't stand a chance against Santana even if she had hurt Brittany beyond repair.

"But I love you too," Brittany finally spoke up. Artie gave her a genuine smile knowing that it was true even if it wasn't enough.

"But you love her more. And as much as I love being your boyfriend, I can't be with someone when I know there heart is committed to someone else. You're a great girl Brittany and you deserve to be with someone who makes you happy beyond explanation. I wish it was me, but you and I both know that's not the case." Artie finished his speech to see tears falling down Brittany's cheek. He hated himself for putting them there, but he knew he was doing the right thing. He began to roll away when Brittany reached out and touched him on the shoulder.

"I really did love you," she stated tears still seeping out.  
>"I know," he said and continued with his exit.<p>

Brittany got into her car and wiped her face off. Breaking up with Artie didn't go nearly as bad as she thought it would, she was ready from him to be really angry at her or maybe really hurt, but he seemed to be neither. It was almost like he expected it. She wondered if loving someone else while dating someone was cheating. If it was then she definitely did cheat on Artie. She was even surprised that he was the one to break up with her. She laughed to herself; this was exactly like what happened to Quinn! But at least she never had an obsession with being prom queen or dated someone that could have passed as her brother. As she started her car and pulled out of the parking lot, she knew she was finished with the easier of the two people she had to talk to. Santana, now talk would be complicated.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Last chapter! Since it all started with a Brittany original song, what better way than to end with a Santana one? The nameless song was written by me. Hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters just their thoughts and actions.

Brittany was more than a bit nervous when she walked into the high school the next morning. She had barely gotten any sleep last night because she just couldn't get her mind to shut off. That and Lord Tubbington hogged the bed. She knew Santana would want to talk to her about the song maybe apologize and move on, but this time needed to be different. She was in love with the brunette there was no doubt about that, but if they wanted to move forward and be together as a real couple then the rules would have to change. Brittany was ready to talk to her best friend and for the first time in her life, she even had a plan on what she was going to say.

The blonde did not plan to get to first period only to see her partner in crime missing. She decided not to worry, Santana loved to sleep in and often times skipped her first class (it was Spanish after all and she only ever came to help Brittany anyway). But when lunch rolled around and the latina was still nowhere to be seen, Brittany started to fret that maybe Santana was mad at her for not talking to her yesterday after glee. She thought she had been nice and that her best friend understood, but Santana had never been one for patience.

As she stood in the middle of the cafeteria lost in her thoughts, a petite body bumped into hers with a subsequent "umph" leaving the perpetrators mouth. Brittany blinked once and looked down to see the one and only Rachel Berry had just full on walked into her.

"I'm so sorry," Rachel mumbled as she grabbed a notebook that had fallen out of her grasp onto the floor. Looking up, she recognized who she ran into while lost in her thoughts about how best to sing her original song in order to really obtain the most extreme emotions which would no doubt lead Finn away from Quinn and back into her arms. "Oh hello Brittany! I'm sorry I didn't see you there, how are you doing today?" Rachel asked in her chipper tone.

"Um ok…" Brittany wondered how Rachel couldn't have seen her. As far as she knew, both of Rachel's eyes worked and Brittany was pretty tall so she was easy to see. Seeing Brittany's eyebrows furrow in concentration, Rachel immediately expected something was amiss and inquired more.

"Are you okay Brittany? You seem a little lost. Why are you standing in the middle of the cafeteria anyway? Don't you want to eat your chicken before it gets cold?" She was going to add on some facts about how awful they treat chickens, before they are slaughtered by the masses, which is why she chooses to live a vegan lifestyle, but she figured that might have been a bit overboard even for Rachel Berry.

"Um, I don't know?" Brittany was trying to process everything that had just been fired at her. Rachel opened her mouth to began what Brittany believed would be another rant, but she was able to cut in first, "Wait… yeah, uh have you seen Santana? I haven't seen her all day, and I kinda need to talk to her."

"Well you have asked the right person." Rachel replied with a smile. "As a matter of fact, I did run into Santana earlier this morning. Well not literally ran into like I just did with you, but I saw her in the choir room before school started. I was just going in to work on my original song, really tighten up any loose ends, not that I really need it with my perfect pitch, which will definitely come in handy…" Rachel continued on, but Brittany had stopped listening once she said choir room. Why would Santana come to school early, much less be in the choir room? Maybe she was working on the dance steps for Regionals, not that they were that complicated, but dancing always came easy to Brittany so maybe it was harder for other members of the glee club. She decided that it wasn't anything to worry about, at least now she knew the latina was at school, and they could just talk after glee rehearsal today.

When Brittany focused back in on the girl in front of her she noticed that Rachel was still talking. "…it's hard to not always shine, but I was quite impressed with the original song you put together with Quinn's help. It was extremely emotional even if you were flat on a few of the higher notes, but I hope you do not hold any grudges against me due to the fact that Mr. Shuester decided to go with my song because of its ability to relate to the masses better than yours." Rachel stopped speaking so Brittany figured she was waiting for a response.

"Um no? I like your new song Rachel, but I kinda like My Headband better." Rachel's jaw dropped slightly, and Brittany could have sworn she saw the shorter girl roll her eyes as she walked away. Brittany wasn't sure if Rachel had complimented or criticized her during the rant, but she didn't really care either way.

* * *

><p>Before she knew it, the bell rang and it was time for glee rehearsal. Brittany hurried out of her class and went straight to the choir room hoping that maybe Santana would get there early as well. When she arrived, the only person there was the creepy piano guy, Brian or Ben, she forgot his name. Once she had a long conversation with Santana about him, and they came to the decision that he lived in the auditorium and had an inflatable mattress stashed in the storage room. He smiled at her when she entered, but said nothing. It was just another creepy thing he did- never talk, which made Brittany think he was a mute.<p>

Slowly the rest of the glee club members made their way into the choir room with their respective boyfriend or girlfriend, or by themselves if they were single. Brittany had chosen a seat in the front row, it had become a habit while she was dating Artie so they could sit by each other, and though Quinn sat down to her right, there was still an unoccupied seat on her left. With only a minute left until rehearsal was to begin, Santana finally walked into the room. Brittany smiled shyly at the brunette and tapped on the seat next to her. Santana gave her a slight smirk before shaking her head and walking over to sit on the piano instead.

Mr. Shue came out of his office excited as always, "Alright guys we've only got a few more days until Regionals, and we really need to be perfect in order to beat the Warblers and Aural Intensity to go on to Nationals. So we are just going to run through our numbers today until you've got them down so well you'll be performing them in your sleep!" Though they weren't as enthusiastic as he was, there was a general murmur of agreement among the club that they would need to bring their A game in order to win. "Let's head over to the auditorium and get to work."

"Hold up." Santana interrupted before anyone had the chance get up. All eyes shifted to her, as she sat with her legs crossed, hands behind her flat on the piano holding her in that sitting position.

"Is there a problem Santana?" Mr. Shue asked politely.

"Besides Berry's obvious lack of fashion sense?" Rachel's mouth gaped open as she looked down at her reindeer sweater which Santana had worn a near replica of only a few weeks prior. Before she could get in a word of objection however, Santana continued, "No not really. But I have an original song I need to sing."

"Oh God, please not another verse of Trouty Mouth." Sam stated from the back row.

"Shut it Beibs, that song was hot and I was just keepin' it real." Santana retorted. "But no, it's a new song, and I know we already decided on Berry's lame ass song for the solo, but I really want, no need, to sing this."

Mr. Shuester looked unsure of what to do, but he figured it couldn't take more than a few minutes, and if it got out of hand like her last song he would just cut her off and they could get back to work.

"Okay Santana, take it away."

"Well I wrote this song last night, but I never named it cuz in all honesty titles don't matter. All that matters is what's being said." Santana slid off the piano and moved to the middle of the room. Once she was positioned directly in front of Brittany, she nodded to Brad and he started playing the chords softly.

"**I've screwed up a time or two  
><strong>**But we both know that so have you  
><strong>**We can't go back and change the past  
><strong>**Cuz the present is here and future is sneaking up fast"**

Santana had taken a few steps closer to the blonde and bent down slightly so she was eye level with her. Brittany gazed at her, but she was unsure if the look was adoration or confusion. Santana bravely rested her hand on Brittany shoulder as she continued.

"**The only thing I can do  
><strong>**Is look you in the eyes  
><strong>**And tell you what I'm feeling  
><strong>**What I've been hiding deep inside"**

She backed up so she could really belt out the chorus line as the intensity of the piano chords increased.

"**That I'm sorry for hurting you  
><strong>**I'm so sorry for all the things I put you through  
><strong>**I wish we could go back and start over again  
><strong>**I would tell you every day that we are more than just friends  
><strong>**Things are always perfect when it's just you and me  
><strong>**I could piece you back together so easily  
><strong>**Yeah I'm sorry"**

By this point in the song, she began to feel wetness on her cheeks and knew she must have started crying. At first she was pissed that she let her emotions show in front of these losers- minus Brittany of course- but then she realized that she was pretty much spilling her guts out in this song so crying in front of them was really the least of her worries. She decided to focus her attention on Brittany, who was sitting with the same blank expression that she usually wore on her face.

"**It may be hard, but I know I can change  
><strong>**I'd do anything to take away your pain  
><strong>**Give me one last chance and I won't let you down  
><strong>**We will be the hottest bitches in this god-forsaken town"**

Santana gave a nice smirk after that line and even got a couple chuckles out of the group, but Brittany was still motionless. What would she have to do to get some emotion out of the girl? Since that belting the chorus the first time produced no effect in the blonde, Santana took a different approach as the song neared its end.

"**The only thing I can do  
><strong>**Is look you in the eyes  
><strong>**And tell you what I'm feeling  
><strong>**What I've been hiding deep inside"**

She took the chair next to Brittany and pulled it in front of the blonde then sat down right across from her. Santana reached out with both hands and took Brittany's within her own as she sang as softly and sweetly as she possibly could.

"**That I'm sorry for hurting you  
><strong>**I'm so sorry for all the things I put you through  
><strong>**I wish we could go back and start over again  
><strong>**I would tell you every day that we are more than just friends  
><strong>**Things are always perfect when it's just you and me  
><strong>**Please let me piece you back together it would be so easy  
><strong>**Yeah I'm sorry  
><strong>**Oh yes I'm sorry"**

The entire group clapped politely, but Santana ignored them as she kept her focus on Brittany both girls staring at each other, their gazes unwavering. Mr. Shue said something and the kids began to get up and file out of the choir room, but the two were oblivious. Finally when they were the only two left, Brittany extracted her hands from Santana's grasp. A cool rush of air hit Santana from the loss of contact, but the blonde slowly and confidently moved her hand to Santana's face where she brushed her thumb ever so softly against the latina's cheek to remove the presence of the tears. When Brittany remained quiet, her hand still cupping the brunette's cheek, Santana couldn't stand it anymore.

"Can you please say something? I'm dying here." Santana finally broke eye contact and looked at her lap while biting her lip.

"You totally ruined my plan." Brittany said with a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

"You had a plan?" Santana asked skeptically. Anyone who found recipes confusing did not tend to have the best skills at planning if they ever did it at all.

"Yeah totally. I was gonna talk to you and tell you that if we wanted to do this," she pointed to herself and Santana, "you know be together, then we would have to be honest with our feelings. And that we would work through things together when it gets hard, no blaming each other and no running away. Oh and that we can't be in love with someone else, cuz that's totally cheating."

Santana smiled at her since Brittany pretty much confessed that she wanted to be her girlfriend. "So how exactly did I ruin your plan?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Santana merely quirked her eyebrow, so Brittany went on, "Well you just sang a song in front of the whole glee club that honestly expressed your feelings even though you can't stand most of them and don't like other people knowing how you feel. You showed me through song that you would do pretty much everything I wanted to talk to you about." Brittany stated this all so matter-of-factly that Santana felt a bit stupid for not picking up on it sooner.

"Oh right." The latina stated as she processed everything the blonde had said. She had momentarily forgotten the main reason they had gotten into a fight, no disagreement, in the first place. "Wait, what about wheels?"

"We broke up."

"Oh…" she replied solemnly though she was cheering joyously on the inside. The depressed look on Brittany's face made Santana worry that either Artie hurt her or that Brittany still wanted to be with him, both options made her heart race in anxiety. Before she could ask what happened, Brittany answered the question she had in mind.

"Yeah. He knows I am in love with someone else." The blonde looked shyly at Santana with a coy smile and the brunette knew the battle was pretty much won. But if she wanted things to work out between them this time, and she desperately did, then they would need to start off on the right foot. That meant clearing the air and hoping for a fresh start.

"So can you forgive me, for you know, everything?" Santana asked hopefully.

"Only if you can forgive me." The blonde replied careful to avoid eye contact with the latina.

"For what?"

"For choosing Artie over you. I was playing it safe, but I know better now. Love's not safe. Sometimes it hurts, but sometimes it is completely amazingly awesome. And that's how I feel when I'm with you." Brittany finally looked at Santana with that last statement and at last, it clicked. The sad look on Brittany's face wasn't from breaking up with Artie, she was upset that Santana might still be mad at her for her decision. Letting out a sigh of relief, Santana reached over and once again took Brittany's hand within her own.

"I'm not gonna lie, it hurt like hell when you said you wouldn't break up with him, but that's in the past. Besides, I haven't always made the best choices either you know, but they put us where we are today." Santana tried to comfort the blonde gently stroking the back of her hand with her fingertips.

"Yeah you're right." Brittany replied while looking at their hands intertwined on her lap.

"Of course I am." Santana said cockily earning a chuckle from Brittany. "You want to know the best thing about choices?" Brittany shook her head thinking she heard something just like this yesterday.

"The opportunities that arise from them are endless." Santana knew that she and Brittany had endless opportunities now that they were being honest about themselves with each other. Maybe not so much in Lima, but once they got out of this crack town and actually got to live life, they could do whatever they wanted and no one could stop them.

"Hey, Quinn told me that yesterday!" Brittany stated proudly, like she won an award for knowing the answer to the question.

"What? That little bitch, stealing all my awesome philosophical statements!" Santana replied though there was no menace to her statement. How could she possibly be mad when she finally got the girl she had always wanted, but was too scared to actually try to get?

"I do learn from the best." Both girls turned their heads to see Quinn standing in the doorway with a genuine smile playing across her lips. "Are you two love birds done in here? Mr. Shue wants you in the auditorium so we can actually get some work done."

The best friends looked at each other sharing a glance and smile before standing up. Santana reached her hand out softly brushing Brittany's and held her pinkie out expectantly. The blonde looked down between them and with a bright grin locked her pinkie with the girl she loved. Quinn rolled her eyes thinking it had taken way too long for them to get to this point. Brittany knew it would be a long time, if ever, before Santana would openly admit to being a couple, but Brittany didn't care. The people who really mattered- Santana, Quinn, and the rest of glee club- knew and for now that was more than enough. Plus Brittany had gotten her best friend back, being able to call Santana her girlfriend was just icing on the cake.

The three girls walked the short distance to the auditorium. As they entered back stage, Mr. Shue called Brittany front and center, which allowed Quinn the opportunity to pull Santana aside.

"Look Santana, I know we've had our ups and downs, but we both care about Brittany so I'm going to say this as nicely as possible. If you ever hurt her again, I swear to God I will make your life a living hell. Okay?" Quinn had used her head bitch tone for her little speech, but of course asked the question in a fake sweet and innocent voice.

Santana was about to snap back that she wasn't afraid of Quinn or her threats, but she didn't need to. She didn't want to hurt Brittany anymore and had no plans to do so ever again, so threatening her was pretty much pointless. But she figured if Brittany was going to good friends with Quinn, then she would have to be on good terms with the shorter blonde as well so she decided to answer Quinn's request.

"Won't be an issue," she said while watching Brittany lead part of the dance routine. Quinn seemed satisfied with her response and made her way over to the rest of the group. Brittany stopped suddenly in the middle of a spin as she caught Santana staring at her. Smiling brightly, she waved the latina over to join them. As Santana walked towards her girlfriend, she couldn't help but to think that no matter how messed up things got, they would be able to get through it.

Brittany was damaged goods, but so was Santana. And they knew that together was the only way they would be able to fix each other.

* * *

><p><strong>End Scene<strong>


End file.
